Love in the TARDIS
by Ginger companion
Summary: The Doctor and Donna discover some new feelings for each other after a dramatic event.


Tears began streaming down Donna's face as the panic ensued.

"No, not now Spaceman! Don't do this to me! Not _now._" She desperately pounded on his hearts in an attempt at CPR. She was exhausted after dragging his weak body into the TARDIS after some sort of electro-gun had shot him, her head was spinning and she was pretty sure she had sprained her wrist badly but she refused to slow up. She was not going to give up on him now, not after everything they'd been through.

She tried pounding on his chest a few more times before realizing that wasn't going to prevail, only one of his hearts was working and even then it was struggling to keep up. She wrapped his arm back around her neck and dragged him to a room in the back of the TARDIS which she new as the medical centre, tears still flowing as she contemplated the possibility of loosing her best friend. She managed to lay him on one of the beds and switched on the defibrillator. It crossed through her mind that using a defibrillator could damage his hearts even more as he was hit with an electro-gun but at this point she was willing to risk it. She hastily unbuttoned his shirt and pressed the two pads onto his chest.

"Okay, Doctor… this is gunna be a shock… one... two… three-" she felt the power of the electric shock being sent through the pads as the Doctor jolted.

"One more time, Spaceman…" and again she sent the shock flowing into his hearts. She looked at the monitor screen and slowly two separate beats appeared. His second heart was working again. She breathed a sigh of relief and set the pads down on their chargers. Now it was just the waiting game. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath trying to calm herself. It was okay. His hearts were working now; he just needed to rest.

There was just one more thing Donna needed to do before she could relax, she jogged over to the console and tried to remember some instructions the Doctor had gone through with her one time to turn on the back up chameleon circuit on the outside of the TARDIS. She knew they wouldn't be fully safe unless she activated it, they were on planet Califux after all… they were supposed to be going to Las Vegas but the Doctor had got his east and west mixed up and landed them here instead. She smirked to herself at the thought of his terrible navigational skills. After a few minutes of pressing random buttons and hoping for a result the blue symbol came up on the console screen, telling her that they were now invisible.

Now slumped in a chair next to the medical bed the Doctor was laid on, Donna allowed her eyes to close and welcomed a deep sleep.

_Two legs… check… two arms… check… head... check… hearts… check…_The Doctor went through his usual mental check list of his body, unsure of whether he had regenerated or not. He propped himself up on one elbow causing a sharp twinge in the right side of his chest and rubbed his face with his free hand. Pretty sure he was still himself he sat up fully on the bed and looked to his left to see Donna fast asleep in an armchair that she had pulled up right next to his bed. A wave of utter pride and adoration for Donna hit the Doctor as he realized that she had saved his life. He slid off the bed and wrapped his arms around her timidly, trying not to wake her up, and then lifted her up fully in his arms. She nestled her head into his shoulder as he carried her to her bedroom and laid her down on her bed.

Donna sighed as she drifted out of her sleep; grateful for the warmth of the bed she now found herself in. Turning over on her side she saw the Doctor was now sat in an armchair next to her.

"I thought I was supposed to be watching over you, not the other way around," she said with a smirk as she sat up. "How are you, spaceman?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you," He said with appreciation as he came and sat down on the bed next to her. "How are you doing? You looked pretty exhausted when I came to." He said taking her hand. Donna let out gasp as a shooting pain went through her wrist.

"I think I sprained my wrist earlier…" she winced as she rubbed it.

"Ah, maybe now you won't hit me as often," the Doctor teased but soon regretted it as he received a swift clamp around the head with Donna's un-injured hand. "Okay, maybe not. Come on," he said with a sniff, "let's get that wrapped up." And he led Donna back to the medical centre and sat her down in one of the chairs.

"You scared me… before, Doctor…" Donna said as the Doctor rummaged around in the drawers for bandages. "I thought… I thought you were gunna…"

"Ah… but I didn't, again thanks to you." He said turning around and gently combing her hair out of her face. He had done that with every intention of a friend but couldn't help himself from noticing just how beautiful Donna really was as she gazed back at him. And she was so brave too. He really didn't know what he would do without her. "Now, wrist please," he said softly. Donna held out her hand as the Doctor wrapped the bandages gently around her wrist and between her thumb and forefinger before taping it off at the side.

"Thanks," she said once he'd finished, "reckon we should probably get outta here now, I put the camouflage shield-thing on but I don't know if I did it right and I doubt it's gunna last much longer"

"Oh you are brilliant aren't you! I told you how to do that ages ago and you still remembered!" replied the Doctor with a proud smile. "Let's go then! I'll just put us into a geostationary orbit around earth for now, I think you need some more rest." He continued as they wended their way to the control room. Donna couldn't deny she was still exhausted. She really had been terrified that she would loose her Spaceman, especially as recently she'd had some strange… warm feelings towards him. She wasn't going to tell him of course, but she had. "Come on! Off to bed! Go!" said the Doctor warmly giving Donna a gentle shove in the direction of her bedroom, causing her to laugh.

She clambered into bed after flinging on her pajamas and once again gratefully let herself slip away into a deep sleep. However it had only been a few hours before she woke up suddenly trembling and sweating from a nightmare that relived the events that led up to the Doctor being shot. She turned over and saw the Doctor in his stripy pajamas sat in the armchair again. He barely ever slept; Some sort of timelord thing. But she was so relieved to see him; she wanted nothing more than just to embrace him.

"Doctor…" she murmured and he lifted his head from the book he was reading.

"You all right, Donna?" he said concerned as he saw her trembling.

"Just… come… come to bed… please…"

The Doctor hesitated before putting his book on the bedside table and climbing in next to his beautiful redheaded friend. She immediately snuggled up to him, resting her head on his chest, relieved for the warmth. He gently rubbed his hand up and down her back and her trembling was soon replaced with deep, heavy, relaxed sighs as she fell back to sleep.

The Doctor lay there now stroking Donna's beautiful red hair and gazed at her while she was asleep; it once again struck him how beautiful she was. Her long eyelashes fluttering gently as she dreamed, they way her lips formed a natural pout and the perfect angles of her nose, all coated with her beautifully pale ivory skin with the occasional freckle. He brought his eyes away from her face and looked at her arms, wonderfully slender and completely covered with freckles and then her hands; delicate, slim fingers with carefully painted pale pink nails. God did he love her.

A few more hours past and Donna slept soundly. The Doctor checked the clock on the bedside table that showed English time on Earth and it was 9 AM. He gently nudged Donna off his chest and slipped out of bed and into the kitchen where he prepared a cup of tea and two pieces of buttered toast, put them on a tray and carried them back into Donna's room. When he re-entered Donna was sat up in bed looking refreshed and content. She smiled lovingly as he presented her with the tray before sitting cross-legged opposite her on the end of the bed.

"Breakfast in bed? And what's the purpose behind this, Spaceman?" she said taking a grateful sip of the tea.

"Naaah, nothing" the Doctor sniffed "just, you'd had a long twenty-four hours and I thought it would be nice. And I promise; next stop Las Vegas! And then there's this fantastic planet I want to take you to! Its called Malvardiccuss; home of the teapot! Great species; Malvardicans, everyone of them is born from an individual brew of tea… I love tea! Don't you love tea! That's good tea isn't it, I make a good cuppa tea; crucial timing to get the perfect ratio of tea, water and milk-"

"Doctor!" Donna interrupted unable to hide her smile.

"What?"

"You're doing it again…" she chuckled.

"Oh... right… sorry… it's just… it's such a brilliant place! And they greet guests with a tea party! I mean how great is that!"

"Yeah, it's great, Spaceman" Donna said still amused. He was like a toddler excited to go to Disneyworld when he talked about new planets.

"Right, so you finish that off, take a shower, get changed and then we'll set off!" the doctor said as he leapt off the bed. "Let me know when you're ready!" and he closed the door leaving Donna to finish her breakfast.

She took one final bite out of her toast, finished off her tea and then went into the bathroom to have a shower. About quarter of an hour later she came back out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She went over to the mirror opposite her bed and quickly brushed her wet hair before beginning to rub it dry with a smaller towel.

"Donna?" she heard from outside the closed door. "I left my book in there, would you mind passing it out to me?"

"Just come in and get it, Spaceman!" she said. Although she would have normally felt reluctant to let the Doctor see her in just a towel, she kind of didn't mind this time… she almost wanted him to.

"Thanks-" the Doctor began saying as he entered but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her. Again he couldn't help but think to himself just how stunning she was; her gorgeous hair all messy and dripping wet over her bare shoulders and the towel ending mid-thigh, revealing her luscious, freckly legs. "Um... yeah, thanks," He stammered and grabbed his book off the bedside table before rushing out of the room.

Donna sensed his gaze when he was stood there and had felt herself blush, after he'd closed the door she realized she couldn't stop smiling. What was going on? He was her best friend… That was why they were so great together! They'd never even contemplated ever getting together in that way… and yet… she could sense his feelings were changing too…

She flung on some clothes, quickly blow-dried her hair then went into the console room to join the Doctor.

"Right! Off we go then!" She exclaimed happily.

"Allons-y!" He replied with a smile and proceeded to press numerous gadgets and buttons on the console. Donna felt the sudden jolt as they took off and managed to grab a handrail before being flung across to the other side of the TARDIS. They both laughed as the bumpy ride continued for another thirty seconds before, with a sudden jolted stop, Donna was hurled from the handrail straight into the Doctor's arms.

They stood there holding each other and gazing into the other's eyes for what felt like an eternity.

"Donna…" said the Doctor softly, still holding his arms around her waist.

"Yeah," she replied, lost in his brown eyes.

"Kiss me."

She didn't even hesitate. Before she knew what was happening, their lips were colliding as they held each other tightly. He ran his fingers through her soft hair as she pressed herself against his body.

After a little while they pulled apart, still holding each other softly, and he looked into her eyes.

"My Donna Noble…" he said, "You are _brilliant_."


End file.
